


Drowning

by sara_wolfe



Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game)
Genre: Carol Danvers & Tony Stark Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-06 11:26:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19061695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sara_wolfe/pseuds/sara_wolfe
Summary: It was only supposed to be a prank. It wasn't supposed to go this wrong...





	Drowning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EchoSiriusRumme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoSiriusRumme/gifts).



> **EchoSiriusRumme** wanted "College AU; Tony never learned how to swim, and Bucky learns this the hard way during a pool party, after he/one of their friends tosses Tony into the water as a prank."

It was supposed to be a prank. 

That was all Bucky could think, numbly, as he watched Rhodes haul his best friend up from the bottom of the pool, arms locked around Stark’s chest as he towed him to the edge. Stark’s eyes were open as he stared up at the sky, but he wasn’t moving otherwise, completely pliant as Rhodes helped him out of the water. Rhodes pulled Stark to his feet, wrapping an arm protectively around his shoulders as he shivered even in the warm summer night, and shot Steve an absolutely venomous glare when he opened his mouth to say something. 

“Get out of my way, Rogers,” Rhodes said, quietly, the tone of his voice indicating that he’d be going through Steve, otherwise. Steve moved aside without a word, looking mournfully after Stark’s retreating back. 

“I didn’t know he couldn’t swim,” Steve said, miserably, as Bucky joined him at the edge of the pool. He looked guilty as hell; it hadn’t been his idea to push Tony in the pool, but he’d been the one to actually do it. “He’s always down at the beach, so I thought-”

“Tony can swim just fine,” Sam protested, as he joined them. “He’s always in the Aqua Park in his suit. But this time, it’s like he just froze. I’m not sure he would have come up if Rhodey hadn’t gone in after him.”

“Do you think Tony will ever forgive us?” Steve asked, his voice so low that Bucky could barely hear him. 

Ten minutes ago, Bucky would have been positive that Stark would have bounced right back from their prank, would have laughed along with everyone else as he dried himself off. But after seeing the terrifyingly blank look on the other boy’s face, Bucky was sure that Tony would never trust any of them ever again. 

He wasn’t sure they deserved it.

* * *

By the time they reached the tower, Tony was shaking so hard that he could barely walk. Rhodey had one of Tony’s arms slung over his shoulders, one of his own wrapped securely around Tony’s waist, supporting most of his weight as they stepped into the elevator. 

“JARVIS, get us to Tony’s room, please,” Rhodey said, and the elevator started a silent glide up the tower.

As they rose higher and higher over the campus, Rhodey could still see lights blazing at the pool house. Clearly, causing Tony to almost drown wasn’t enough to kill their partying spirit. He swallowed down the rage he still felt, and the impulse to go over there and beat the shit out everyone still in that house. Tony needed him right now, far more than he needed Rhodey to avenge him, and there’d be plenty of time for ass-kicking later. 

Tony had been worryingly still and quiet against his side while they rode the elevator up, but he stirred slightly when the doors slid open on his penthouse suite. Rhodey steered them toward the bathroom, where he quickly helped Tony get out of his soaking wet clothes and into a warm, dry pair of sweats that Dummy appeared with. Rhodey also spent a few minutes carefully checking over the seal of the arc reactor; Tony had reassured him more than once that it was completely waterproof, but Rhodey still worried. Even more worrying was the way Tony just stood, quiet and eerily passive, while Rhodey checked him over. 

Dummy followed them back out into the main living room, beeping anxiously as he trailed behind Tony, and as soon as Tony was nestled into the couch cushions, Dummy ran his claw over every part of Tony he could reach, trying to reassure himself that Tony was okay. Tony freed a hand from the blanket nest Rhodey had wrapped him in to pet Dummy’s claw with a shaking hand, holding carefully to the bot for a moment before burying himself back under the blankets, again. 

“Good boy,” he mumbled, and Dummy beeped again, sounding a little less anxious than before. 

“How are you feeling?” Rhodey asked, emerging from the kitchen with a pair of steaming mugs, setting Tony’s on the coffee table within easy reach. 

Peering inside the cup, Tony raised an eyebrow at the hot chocolate that greeted him, rather than the coffee he’d probably been hoping for. Rhodey ignored the silent question as he sat down at the other end of the couch, sipping at his own drink and waiting for Tony to answer him. 

“Cold,” Tony finally admitted, so softly that Rhodey could barely hear him. “Not - not from the water, but-”

He trailed off, but Rhodey had no problems filling in the rest. Almost a year after Afghanistan, and Tony still had nightmares about the time he’d spent in captivity, about what his abductors had been willing to do to him to force him to make weapons for them. He didn’t talk to Rhodey about most of it - didn’t talk to anyone about it, really - but he talked in his sleep often enough for Rhodey to make some educated guesses about what had happened. About why Tony was so wary around water when he wasn’t in one of his suits where he was in complete control over what happened to him.

“You want another blanket?” he asked, unsure of what else to say. 

Tony just shook his head, burrowing further into his blanket and snaking a hand out to grab his hot chocolate. “Maybe a movie,” he suggested. “I’m not gonna be able to sleep, so might as well make the most of the rest of the night, right?”

“Hey, JARVIS?” Rhodey asked, glancing automatically up at the ceiling. “Something fun, please. With no swimming pools.”

As JARVIS started a movie on the screen and dimmed the lights a bit, Tony squirmed around on the couch until he was stretched out next to Rhodey, snuggling up against his side. Rhodey wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and they cuddled together for the rest of the night.

* * *

Tony roused from the doze he’d fallen into, to the sound of his phone buzzing on the table where he’d dropped it earlier. He didn’t necessarily want to get out of the cozy blanket cocoon he was wrapped up in - and if it was something urgent, like yet another attack on campus, JARVIS would have woken them up - but he also didn’t want his phone to wake Rhodey up. 

Luckily, Dummy solved the comfort-vs-necessity problem by picking up Tony’s phone and handing it to him. Tony sneaked a hand out of the blankets to pat Dummy’s claw, earning a happy beep from the bot. Dummy then rolled away to the kitchen; he’d probably been eagerly waiting for Tony to wake up so he could ply him with his smoothies of questionable origin. 

“I’ll keep an eye on the kitchen, sir,” JARVIS assured him, anticipating Tony’s thoughts before he’d even opened his mouth. 

“Thanks, J,” Tony said. 

Then, he finally turned his attention to his phone, which had vibrated at least two more times since he’d picked it up. Whoever wanted to get a hold of him was clearly too impatient to give him time to answer. 

A string of texts greeted him, from about a dozen different people. Pepper’s he opened first; she hadn’t been at the party last night, having been working with Fury, but she’d clearly gotten word of what had happened. Pepper’s half-dozen texts were calm and orderly on the surface, but Tony had known her long enough to be able to read between the lines, and he was touched by the concern in her words. (And a little worried for Steve and his friends, if her last text was to be believed; a vengeful Pepper wasn’t someone to mess with.)

Texts from Jan and Natasha were next. They’d been off campus with a group of the newest students, but someone had apparently told them what had happened; Tony wondered if it had been Rhodey or Pepper. Both girls promised to rain vengeance down on Steve’s head when they returned to the Academy, and Tony was starting to feel a little bit sorry for Steve. Not enough to forgive him for what he’d done, but still. 

He scrolled through a few more messages before finally deciding that he’d put off the inevitable for too long. Steeling himself for whatever he might find, Tony opened Steve’s text messages. 

_‘It was just supposed to be a prank,’_ was the first thing he read. _‘You were supposed to find it funny-’_

Tony deleted the rest of Steve’s messages without even bothering to read them. Frankly, he didn’t care if Steve spent the next ones metaphorically grovelling on his knees; the fact that he couldn’t even open with an apology, that he’d tried to defend what he’d done - well, that said more about the state of their so-called friendship than anything else ever could. 

Tony almost didn’t want to look at the rest of the messages after that. He didn’t think he’d be able to handle seeing anyone else trying to justify pushing him in the pool, trying to convince him that it had really been funny. But, he also knew that if he didn’t look, the not knowing would drive him up the wall. 

He looked at Sam’s texts first. Sam at least had the decency to start with an apology, but then he jumped into _‘Steve didn’t mean to hurt you-’_ and Tony deleted the message. He didn’t think he could handle their excuses for a long time, if ever. 

Which left Barnes’ single text. He and Barnes mostly existed in a state of mutual tolerance; Tony couldn’t imagine what the other boy had to say to him now. He was Steve’s best friend from way back, he’d probably be even quicker than Sam to defend what Steve had done-

 _‘I’m sorry,’_ his text started. _‘What we did was stupid, and inexcusable, and if there’s anything I can do to make this right, I’ll do it. Or, if you want me to avoid you on campus, I’ll do that, too.’_

Tony blinked in surprise as he read the text, and then read it again to make sure it said what he thought it did. Barnes’ apology was short, especially compared to the half-dozen texts Steve had spammed him with, but there was a sincerity there that Tony honestly hadn’t been expecting.

 _‘Thanks for the apology,’_ he typed quickly, before he changed his mind, and then he turned the phone completely off and dropped it on the table. If sending that text was going to somehow blow up in his face, he didn’t want to know about it until after he’d gotten some more sleep.

* * *

Three days later, Tony found himself jogging across campus to make it to the training arena in time for his scheduled sparring session. He was on the schedule opposite Carol, today, and she’d promised to help him test out a new kind of armor, one that he was hoping would be able to channel her energy blasts without the circuitry being completely fried. He wasn’t entirely sure what he’d do with it if they were successful, but that was tomorrow’s problem. 

Arriving at the training arena, he was pulled up short by the incredibly-rare sight of Steve limping as he walked away from the arena. Passing Tony, Steve met his eyes for a brief moment, opened his mouth as if to say something, but then glanced back at the arena and hurried away without a word. Intensely curious, Tony headed inside to see just what had Steve so spooked. 

He found Carol waiting for him inside the building, leaning against the wall as she watched the pair going ahead of them. She nodded a greeting at Tony, her eyes never leaving the spectacle in the arena, and after he realized what he was looking at, Tony found himself just as enthralled. Rhodey was in the arena with Sam, and now Tony understood why Steve was limping. 

Rhodey was in the War Machine armor, and he was going full-tilt against Sam, not giving the other boy even an inch. Tony didn’t know how long they’d been sparring, but Sam looked ready to drop. 

“Rhodey told me what happened the other night,” Carol said, quietly, as Tony joined her in holding up the wall. “Frankly, I think he let Rogers off a bit light.” Shooting Tony an almost bloodthirsty grin, she added, “But, I’m working with Rogers, tomorrow, and I’ll take care of it.”

“I’m touched,” Tony told her, “but I don’t need you guys getting in trouble with Fury for breaking his favorite super soldier.”

“Fury loves me,” Carol told him. “And I’m not going to break Rogers; I’m just going to remind him what happens when he messes with my friends.”

Long experience had taught Tony that it was pointless to argue, so he just let the matter drop. Besides, Rhodey was finished running Sam all over the arena, and he and Carol were next to go on. 

“Rhodey asked to take our time,” Carol said, putting a hand on Tony’s shoulder to stop him when he moved away from the wall. “He’s got one more person he wants to work with.”

As if Carol’s words had summoned him, Barnes chose that moment to step into the building. He looked grimly resigned as he stared up at Rhodey in the arena, and Tony wondered how much of the bout with Sam he’d seen. He also wondered why Barnes would even show up, if he knew what awaited him. 

“Stark,” Barnes greeted him, quietly, somehow managing to not be intimidated by Carol looming menacingly behind Tony. At least not that he showed. “I - uh - I just wanted to say again, I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t mean anything-”

“It means a lot, actually,” Tony interrupted him. 

Barnes was still the only one who’d bothered with an actual apology after the party, and he’d unobtrusively texted Tony every day since, checking on him without being pushy about it. It was a hell of a lot more than he’d gotten from Steve, or Sam, or anyone else at that party, and Tony was willing to admit that he appreciated it. 

“You don’t have to get in the ring with Rhodey, you know,” Tony went on. 

Barnes looked surprised by Tony’s words, but then he glanced up at Rhodey who was waiting patiently for them to finish talking. “Call it penance,” he said, with a shrug. Then, he hopped up into the arena, facing Rhodey head-on. 

Tony was tempted to stay and watch the match (out of curiosity or sympathy, he wasn’t sure), but Carol had other ideas, steering him out the door into the sunshine. 

“Let’s grab lunch,” she said, before Tony could protest. “You and Barnes will have plenty of time to talk about all of this, later.”

* * *

True to Carol’s prediction, Barnes - no, Bucky; anyone who walked willingly into a War Machine ass-kicking was immediately elevated to first-name status - Bucky sought him out a few hours later. 

Tony was where he’d spent a lot of time over the past few days: the pool. He hadn’t been able to even set foot in his shower since the night of the party, but he kept coming back to the pool and staring down at the water. He’d read the research, and he knew how trauma recovery went, and most importantly, he knew himself; the longer he went without getting in the water, the less likely he was going to be able to ever go in the water, again. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it, couldn’t even make himself get within a foot of the edge of the pool. He’d tried once and it had left him shaking for hours. 

“Hey,” he greeted Bucky, his eyes never leaving the water. “What’re you doing here?”

“To be honest,” Bucky told him, “I’m not sure.” Noticing the way Tony’s hands were trembling, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m not sure,” Tony replied. Tearing his gaze away from the water, he glanced over at Bucky and added, “How are you doing? After your sparring with Rhodey, I mean?”

Bucky grinned, ruefully. “He’s vicious,” he admitted. “I’m a genetically-enhance super soldier and I was barely keeping up in the ring. If he’d wanted to actually hurt me-” Trailing off, Bucky shook his head. “Not that I blame him, though. After what we did to you-”

“I’m really fighting an automatic response of ‘it’s okay’,” Tony told him. “I mean, it’s really not. What you guys did was really, really shitty. I still kind of hate you for what you did to me.”

“Only kind of?” Bucky echoed, hesitantly. 

“It’s hard to hold a really effective grudge when I know we could be under attack by Ronon, or Thanos, or Thor’s crazy sister, or who the hell knows what at any moment,” Tony said, glancing up at the sky like he expected an attack to come at that moment. “We face impending doom and destruction pretty much once a week around here, and that kind of puts things in perspective. Makes my anger at you guys seem insignificant by comparison.”

“I am sorry, though,” Bucky said, after a long moment. “I am so sorry; I can’t-”

“You can’t keep apologizing forever,” Tony interrupted him, but there was a small smile on his face to let Bucky know that he wasn’t really upset about it. “Besides, one of these days, I’ll do something extremely stupid that I’ll need to apologize for, and then we’ll all be even.”

Bucky shook his head, clearly not convinced, and Tony decided to try a different tactic. 

“You really want to make it up to me?” he asked. “Then hold my hand while I go in the water.”

Of all the things he could have said, that obviously hadn’t been what Bucky had expected, and he blinked at Tony in surprise. “I’m sorry?”

“Hold my hand while I go in the water,” Tony repeated himself. “I’m afraid to go in the water. I’m terrified, actually, but I don’t have the luxury of being terrified. Not when someone with a water theme could attack us, and I’d be useless if I froze up. And I can’t stand the thought of someone getting hurt because of me, so I need to get over my fear. But I don’t want to do it alone. I don’t think I can do it alone.”

“Hold your hand,” Bucky echoed, and Tony held his left hand out, palm up. 

“I’m trusting you to get me the hell out of there if I start panicking,” Tony told him. 

“I will,” Bucky promised, reaching out and gripping Tony’s hand, hard. “You’re safe; I promise.”

“I know I am,” Tony told him.


End file.
